


Winter In Germania

by Blue_Night



Series: The Adventures of the Roman Legatus Marcus Retus and his Friends [15]
Category: Football RPF, Original Work, Real Person Fiction, Rome
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Ancient Germania, Ancient Rome, Explicit Sexual Content, Happy Ending, Kissing, Longing, M/M, Memories, Reconciliation, Reunion Sex, Reunions, Seasons, Vineyard, Winter, after breakup, mentioning of real historical places
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-18 23:35:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13110879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Night/pseuds/Blue_Night
Summary: Marcus Retus has retired from his post in Augusta Treverorum years ago and has become a vintner on a vineyard in south-west Germania. He has a good life and friends among the other Romans and the Treverer living in this part of Germania, but there is something he has been missing for more than ten years. Will the night of the winter solstice perhaps change everything and reunite him with the one he has never stopped loving?





	Winter In Germania

**Author's Note:**

> My dear readers,
> 
> I had actually not wanted to write a Christmas fic except for the two gift fics I've already written, but this idea has been lurking in my mind for quite some time, and I think that it fits quite well into this time, even though it is not really a Christmas fic. But one of the reasons why we're celebrating Christmas in December is that the young church combined ancient holidays with the new ones to make it easier for the new Christians to adapt, and the Celts and the Teutons have celebrated the winter solstice like a lot of other ancient cultures.
> 
> This story could be a possible spin off to 'Germania' or an alternate version of 'Germania' - depending on how 'Germania' will end, but you don't need to know this WIP to be able to read this oneshot.
> 
> Some of you might ask yourselves why I'm so 'obsessed' with writing about Romans and Teutons, it has always been one of my favorite historical periods next to the Middle Ages. I have been raised with history and stories about the old Greeks and Romans, and the country where I live has a lot of places where Romans and Celts/Teutons have lived. There is an old Mithras-sanctuary not far away from my home, and the Romans had built a fort in my city. The traces are long gone, but the memory is still there, the name of a bus stop still reminding of the Roman fort that has once been there where cars are now rolling over the asphalt of our modern streets. 
> 
> The villa where Marcus Retus lives in this story has truly existed, archeologists have re-built it and made a museum out of it, and a lot of visitors come to the Roman gladiator games and other events during the summer months. The region where this villa was built is also known for good wine, so Marcus being a vintner fits in the historical background very nicely.
> 
> The Treverer are officially counted to the Celts, but some of them insisted on actually being Teutons, and south-west Germania is where Celtic and Teuton tribes met and lived side by side, and the Treverer have surely been both, Celts and Teutons due to marriages, but I go with the official classification as Celts in my fics.
> 
> The Treverer have had at least five so called 'oppidae' in this region, one of them, the largest one is in the north of my country and Kuba's home in this story, while the other one lay next to a Roman camp about 25km away from Marcus' villa. Oppidae were fortified Celtic settlements with large walls to protect the inhabitants, partly built with stones, partly wooden palisades. The stone wall around Kuba's oppidum has partly lasted for 2000 years and has had a height of twenty meters, it is still more than impressive even after two millennia. Archeologists have found one of Caesar's field camps nearby, it is not sure whether or not he has fought against the Treverer who lived there, but Caesar has actually visited my small country. 
> 
> The old oppidae lost their importance when Augusta Treverorum (Trier) started to grow, the oldest German city together with Mogontiacum (Mainz) and Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium (Oppidum Ubiorum/Köln), but they have been the center of the Treverian culture and territories for a long time.
> 
> That being said, I can't help but love my Roman, Celtic and Teuton versions of our favorite footballers, I hope that you have come to like them as well over the past three years.
> 
> I want to dedicate this story to all of my readers, I wish you a very happy Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, may 2018 be a good year for all of you! <33
> 
> If you liked this story, please don't be silent readers but show your love for Marcus and Robertus with kudos and comments, your visible feedback is invaluable to me and the reason why I keep writing and posting for this fandom. Without your support and encouragment, there is no reason for me to stay here, and your feedback will be my Christmas gift. <3

The lonely rider was only a small black spot in the endless bright white of the silent winter landscape, slowly growing bigger as they made their way through the thick snow covering everything.

Marcus had been informed about their unexpected visitor by Lukas a couple of minutes ago, and he had stepped outside to wait for his unknown guest, his hand searching for the sword handle in an instinctive and almost unconscious gesture.

Old habits died hard, and Marcus would never get rid of the soldier in him he had been for most of his life. There was no sword hanging down from his leather belt any longer, and he had left his dagger in the kitchen where he had helped Kuba and Lucia to prepare everything for the feast that would take place in his villa tonight to celebrate the winter solstice – the longest and darkest night of the year.

From the next day on, the days would become longer again, almost unnoticed at first but slowly and steadily, and this important date was a wonderful reason to invite all of his friends and celebrate another successful and peaceful year with them.

The cold breeze blew the heavy fur that served him as a warm and cozy coat, but Marcus had adapted to the very long and very cold winters that paralyzed Germania for months every year a long time ago, and he welcomed the cool, tingling feeling the snowflakes left on his from the kitchen fire still warm cheeks, melting on his skin to tiny glittering water pearls.

His leather breeches were partly covered with fur as well to protect his legs and keep his joints warm, and his heavy boots protected his feet from getting chilblains even when he had to be outside the house for hours.

They were a gift from Erik, who had made them for Marcus last winter for the celebration of the winter solstice, and Marcus was still grateful for the time and care his friend had put into his gift.

Erik was the chief of the large fortified oppidum lying about fifteen miles to the north-east of his villa for more than five years now, leading his people with wisdom, kindness and a strict hand, and he had become one of Marcus' closest friends and a highly valued ally. The Treverer lived in peace with the Romans who had settled down in their territories, treading with them on a regular basis, and both parties benefited greatly from the exchange of goods, supplies, knowledge and help.

Marcus couldn't till his vineyard without the help of the Treverers, there were only few Romans who wanted to stay in Germania when the twenty years of their services in the Roman legions were finally over.

The former legatus Marcus Retus was one of them, and he didn't miss Rome and her warmth as much as he had thought that he would miss both at the beginning. The soft green hills of south-west Germania were his true home now, and he was content and happy with his life as a vintner.

An injury had ended his career sooner than he had expected to retire from his duties as the commander of Augusta Treverorum, his ankle had healed over the years and didn't bother him any longer, but it had been clear right from the beginning that he wouldn't be able to lead his men into the battle anymore without putting them into danger because of his injury, and the emperor had released him from his post with full military honors. Tiberius had also promised to become Marcus' first client and order his wine when his faithful officer had established his business, and he had kept his promise and had also recommended Marcus' wine to his friends in Rome and in the Gallic and Teuton provinces, granting Marcus and his business partners a regular and generous income with that.

Marcus' new life kept him busy and distracted him from thinking too much of what he had lost so long ago, and he normally managed to ignore the huge gap that had been formed in his heart and his life more than ten years ago and which was still too painful to acknowledge it without feeling like choking. A gap that couldn't be filled, no matter how hard he tried to do so, neither with work nor with anything else, and which hurt him the most during the long and dark winter nights, when he tossed and turned in his lonely bed, craving for something that had been doomed to end painfully before it had even started.

The unbidden thought brought Marcus' attention back to the small black dot that had become much bigger in the meantime, having grown to a rather large figure, dark against the grayish sky and the white landscape.

The fur of the stallion was as black as Marcus remembered it even though the last time he had seen this special beautiful and noble Arab had been ten years ago. The rider was huddled in a heavy coat, the dark-brown, almost black fur of his cloak had most likely once protected a large bear against the freezing cold in the thick forests of Germania.

The hood covered most of the face of Marcus' new guest, but the blond Roman didn't need to see it to know who had found his way to his vineyard, and his breath hitched in his throat when long-suppressed memories rushed back into the center of his mind with full force.

Marcus stood there frozen in place, unable to do anything else other than just stare up at the man who had taken his heart with him when he had left Germania ten years ago, leaving Marcus behind without one last glance back.

His hands clenched at his side, and Marcus' jaw worked, his amber-green eyes burning with the cold and the tears he had never allowed to fall when his world had ended in the long and cold dark winter night of another winter solstice - which seemed to have been in another lifetime.

A sudden gust of wind pushed the hood back from the newcomer's head, and Marcus could see his face clearly now. There were several thin lines around his eyes and his mouth that hadn't been there when the other one had stood before him in that long gone night, telling him that he would leave Germania to go back to the sun and the warmth, but these lines made the handsome and aristocratic features only more attractive, and the few thin gray strands visible in the still mostly dark curls only served to boost the aura of dignity and grandeur that had always surrounded him.

They stared at each other for a long silent moment, and there was something visible in those brilliant blue eyes that had haunted Marcus in his sleep almost every night that made his heart beat faster and the tiniest spark of hope light up deep in his heart.

Marcus looked into the other man's eyes, and as strange as it was, but he felt the bitterness and hurt of the last decade drain away when he saw in the deep blue depths what he had thought that he would never see it there, the long time span of ten years shrinking to nothing as they talked to each other with their eyes only.

It was time to leave behind what had separated them for far too long, and the former legatus and now vintner Marcus Retus was tired of fighting and arguing. The younger Roman hadn't thought that he would ever see him again, that he would ever get the chance to hear his smooth voice and feel the touch of his hand for at least one last time.

But here he was, asking him silently for forgiveness and understanding, and it was Marcus who finally broke the heavy silence between them, a small smile curling at the corners of his cold lips when he said:

“Ten years, Consul Robertus Levantus. It has taken you ten years to find your way back to me.”

The late visitor relaxed visibly as he allowed the tension to leave his shoulders. Robertus' blue eyes sparkled when he returned the smile and dismounted from his faithful steed with one single elegant and fluent move, just like Marcus remembered it from the time when they had served Rome together.

“Former Consul Robertus Levantus, my friend. I have not come here as the consul who had been foolish enough to leave the only thing behind that has ever meant anything to him, but as the simple man Robertus. I have come to beg you to give me one last chance, and I will do whatever it takes to earn your forgiveness and this second chance – even though I know quite well that I don't deserve any of them. I will respect it and leave you again if you tell me that it is too late for both. All I'm asking from you is that you will offer me a place in your stables for my faithful friend here and perhaps a warm meal and a place beside your hearth for me to warm my tired limbs for one night.”

Marcus didn't feel the freezing cold any longer when he stepped forward to pull the man who meant more to him than his own life into a tight hug, burying his nose in the crook between Robertus' shoulder and neck.

The older one's deeply missed and still so familiar scent enclosed him like a warm and soft bubble, and Marcus had to close his eyes to keep his tears from falling, tears that were tears of pain about their long separation and tears of joy about their reunion at the same time.

“My place is your place, you stupid man! My home will always be your home, I would think that you really must know that by now.”

Robertus' chuckle sounded more like suppressed sobs, and he wrapped his arms tightly around the slim frame of his younger friend and hid his face at Marcus' throat.

“So you're willing to take me back just like that, and this although I have caused you so much harm and pain, Marcus?”

“Yes, I am,” Marcus answered simply, and this was all both of them needed to know.

 

***

 

Dinner was a joyous matter this year, the fire crackling cheerfully in the huge open fireplace spending warmth and light, chasing the dark and cold shadows of the longest night away with its red-golden flames.

The long wooden table placed in the center of the large hall threatened to burst under the weight of the bowls, plates and carafes, the delicious smells of the dishes and the mulled wine filling the warm air and making the mouths of the people sitting at the table water in anticipation.

It had been a good year for Marcus' vineyard and the villages that nestled in between the green hills of this region of south-west Germania. The crop had been the biggest one of the last five years, and Marcus and Lukas had seen to their storage rooms being filled with enough supplies and everything they would need during the long winter months. His manageable household had spared some of their supplies for the feast, all of them being fine with sparse meals over the last two weeks to make sure that their valued guests wouldn't miss anything during their long awaited visit.

Erik had come together with Tribunus Nurio Santinus, the commander of the fortified camp lying in close distance to Erik's oppidum, and Marcus could tell by the glances and brief touches Erik and the young commander shared now and then that he didn't need to worry about them minding that they had to share a room during their stay in his house.

Marcus' villa offered every comfort and luxury the villa of his family in Rome offered, but it was much smaller and had only three guests rooms for possible visitors. Marcus didn't need more rooms, and it was much easier and less expensive to heat a smaller house during the long winters.

His best friend Marius had come with his beautiful wife Alma Kunna and their twins Rufus and Lioba, and Marcus had had tears of joy in his eyes when his old comrades Severus and Patricius had knocked at his door the previous day. He hadn't thought that they would make it from Augusta Treverorum to his villa, and they had sat together until after midnight the previous evening, dwelling in memories and sipping from the mulled wine Lucia had made for the feast.

Marius and his wife lived in Erik's oppidum now, Marius had given up his dream of going back to Rome after his retirement when he had fallen in love with the beautiful Celtic princess, sensing that the beautiful flower Alma Kunna was would die if he tried to replant her. He was happier here in Germania than both – Marcus and Marius himself – had thought it possible, and his friend had bought a nice villa in Augusta Treverorum and offered Marcus one of his cellars as a storage room for his wine.

The former legatus searched blindly for the hand of the man sitting next to him on the wooden bench as he remembered his first years as a vintner, and Robertus enclosed his hand with his warm fingers to squeeze it gently, his deep blue eyes lingering on Marcus' face with a tender expression for a brief moment before he turned his head to answer to something Lukas had asked him.

The first two years had been hard for Marcus. He hadn't known anything about how to till a vineyard, and he had had only his determination and his strong will to pull this through and not give up.

Germania had become his home, and he couldn't imagine living anywhere else anymore. Everything had been new and confusing, and Marcus had worked all day long, getting up before sunrise and falling into his bed around midnight, working in the vineyards until it was too dark to see your own hand before your eyes any longer just to go back to his villa again and seeing to the parchment work with two candles as his only source of light.

Everything had changed when Lukas had become severely injured. Lukas had served under Marcus' command as his tribunus before Legatus Manuellus Novus had taken Marcus' post, and both of them had thought that Lukas would be the commander of the garrison of Augusta Treverorum one day.

But then Kuba, the junior chief of the largest Treverian oppidum, had come to Augusta Treverorum for negotiations, and Lukas had been ordered to guard him during his stay. His senior chief Thoralf had plotted against Kuba and sent him to the Roman city to get rid of him, sending an assassin to kill his second-in-command and replace his post with another junior chief who hated the Romans as much as Thoralf secretly did.

Lukas had protected Kuba with his own body and saved his life this way, but he had become severely injured and almost lost his own life and his leg because of his feat. Kuba had refused to leave the Roman who had been willing to sacrifice himself for his sake and for the sake of the negotiations, and he had fought for Lukas' life and his leg with greatest defiance and stubbornness, keeping the Roman physician from amputating Lukas' leg and sitting on the Roman's sickbed all day and night long for weeks.

Marcus and Erik, the young chief of the neighbor oppidum, had come to Kuba's help because their fathers had been close friends and brothers in arms, defeating Thoralf and his new junior chief in close combat, and Erik had sent his own healer to Augusta Treverorum to save Lukas' life and leg.

Lukas still had two legs, but his life as a Roman soldier had been over after his painful recovery, and he still needed a stick for walking. Marcus had offered Lukas to become his partner on his vineyard, and Lukas had gladly accepted the offer of his former commander. They worked perfectly together, Lukas seeing to their business, the parchment work, the logistic and their treading partners, while Marcus preferred to work in the vineyards together with his employees.

Kuba had followed Lukas, leaving his oppidum with a heavy heart but in the knowledge that their people were in the best hands possible with his successor Benno, the terrible incident making it impossible for Kuba to become the chief of the oppidum himself after all that had happened.

Kuba and Lukas didn't talk about the true nature of their relationship, but they actually didn't need to do that because the deep love they felt for each other and the strong bond between them was an open secret on Marcus' vineyard. They didn't need to fear that Marcus or one of their friends and employees would ever mention it, both men were highly respected, and Marcus was happy that they had found each other anyway.

Seeing them together brought some memories back to Marcus' mind sometimes, memories he tried to forget because they were too painful, but he had never begrudged his friends their love, and Marcus knew that from this night on, he wouldn't need to fear those memories any longer, not with Robertus eventually having come back to him.

Kuba was Marcus and Lukas' housekeeper, not a servant, and he was the one keeping everything together and helping wherever Marcus or Lukas needed help, always seeing to Lukas not overdoing it with eagle eyes.

They had had a good life over the past years, and Marcus had secretly wished that the man he still loved with all of his heart could share their joy and happiness, sharing his feeling of contentment after a long and exhausting but also satisfying working day in the vineyards and fields. Marcus still could hardly believe that his wish had finally come true, his eyes searching Robertus' gaze to make sure that he wasn't dreaming all of this, his leg snuggling close to the other man's thigh to feel his warmth seeping through his breeches.

The blond vintner smiled when he thought of what he wanted to show Robertus when spring would finally come back to Germania, the sight that greeted Marcus every time he rode back to his neat white villa after such a long day still always taking his breath away with its beauty, the shiny roofs and the neat walls of his villa and the other buildings belonging to his vineyard being red and white spots of color among the soft green hills of his new home.

Marcus loved the changes during the year, each season having its own appeal and beauty. Spring colored the landscape in the light green of the fresh grass and leaves and the deep red, bright yellow and rich blue of the flowers, while the green of the summer was rich and dark, contesting with the golden color of the crop and the shimmering azure blue of the cloudless sky. This region of Germania was surprisingly hot during the summer months, and Marcus had learned to appreciate the rainy days instead of complaining about them because his wine grapes needed enough water to grow and provide them with the wine of high quality Marcus pressed.

Marcus hadn't known that there were so many shades of red, violet, yellow and brown before the first autumn he had spent in Germania, because there wasn't anything like this in Rome, and the rich colors of the Teuton falls still amazed him anew every singly year. His faithful stallion Thunder loved their long rides before winter came as much as Marcus loved them, horse and rider fooling around with the rustling leaves like small boys when they were sure that no one would catch them.

Winter brought the bright white of the snow and the blackness of seemingly endless nights, but Marcus had learned to love the winters in Germania as much as he loved the other three seasons with their different colors.

Life in winter was always hard, but they managed just fine most of the time, and the celebration of the winter solstice with his friends was one of the highlights of the year.

This year, it was for sure the best celebration in Marcus' whole life because the man he loved was sitting beside him again after ten long and lonely years, holding his hand under the table and talking to Marcus' friends who were also his family as if he had never been away.

Lucia sat at the table like all of their few servants, and Marcus knew that this time, he wouldn't have to go to bed alone while Lukas and Kuba, Erik and Nuri, and Marius and Alma Kunna would snuggle close together under the furs, their bodies nestled against each other in a loving embrace protecting them from the freezing cold of Germania's longest night.

Tonight, Marcus would snuggle close to a warm and loving body as well, sharing warmth and sweet caresses with the man who was his destiny since Marcus had looked into those brilliant blue eyes for the first time.

“How long will you stay here, Robertus?” Lukas asked, his fingers entangled with Kuba's on the table beside their plates. Lukas and Robertus had been friends for years, and Marcus knew that it had hurt Lukas when Robertus had left him without any other word, fleeing from the hostile country Germania still was as much as he had fled from his forbidden feelings for his former underling.

Robertus smiled at his friend, but his eyes searched Marcus' gaze when he opened his mouth to answer to Lukas' question.

“For as long as I am welcome here, Lukas. I've been running away for far too long, and it was finally about time to come back home.”

“Then you'll have to stay here forever, Robertus, because you will never be not welcome here,” Marcus whispered hoarsely, and the older Roman gently squeezed his fingers again and smiled at him.

“I had hoped that you would say that Marcus, because there is no other place in this world I'd rather be than here with you.”

 

***

 

The room was dark even though Marcus hadn't closed the thick wooden shutters, the stars and the moon hidden behind dark and heavy clouds. They would bring more snow tomorrow, but this was nothing the two men lying on the bed would have needed to worry about.

Their supplies would last until spring would melt the snow away again, and the dark-haired Roman had reached his destiny before more snow would make the streets and paths become impassable.

Marcus looked up at the so beloved and deeply missed face above him, his fingers tracing along the thin lines time had carved into Robertus' still smooth skin.

Robertus looked down at him, and Marcus didn't need any light to see the love and devotion in the other man's eyes – emotions the blond had longed to see in these beautiful deep blue orbs so badly, back then in Augusta Treverorum, emotions Robertus had never let him see during the countless times he had fucked Marcus senseless.

They had done it hundreds of times, on the wooden floor of Marcus' quarters, on the grass of a hidden clearing, offside a path hidden from prying glances by thick trees and bushes, in the pool of Robertus' private bath, standing against a wall and in Marcus' bed – never face to face in bed though – kneeling, standing or lying, fucking with each other with heated and angry passion, unable to keep their hands off each other whenever they had been alone for a few minutes.

But they had never made love to each other like they were doing it now, lying in Marcus' bed face to face, Robertus' strong arms embracing Marcus lovingly and pressing him close, holding him tight until not even the thinnest sheet of parchment would fit in between them.

Robertus had never kissed him back then all those years ago, claiming his body and leaving his marks upon each and every inch of Marco's with arousal and desire burning skin – deep red and purple marks which had hardly had any chance to fade before the older man had left a new one right next to the old mark.

These marks had faded a long time ago, but the invisible marks Robertus had carved into his heart, his soul and his mind, had never faded, and Marcus had spent sleepless nights with asking himself how those sensitive and passionate lips would have felt upon his mouth, if they would have felt as hot on his own lips like he remembered them burning on his skin with even the slightest touch.

Tonight his question had finally been answered, the former Consul Robertus Levantus kissing him with the despair of a man dying of thirst, but also with heart-wrenching tenderness. Marcus' lips were still bruised and tingling from the passionate onslaught, because Robertus had kissed him the entire time while preparing him for their lovemaking with the same heart-wrenching tenderness he had kissed him with, breathing barely audible words of love, devotion, regret and longing into the soft cavern of Marcus' mouth.

The older Roman had only drawn back when he had covered Marcus with his warm and still so well-trained and sculptured body, his eyes roaming over Marcus' with longing and love suffused features as if he wanted to burn the sight of him into his memory forever.

Marcus hadn't known how empty and cold he had felt for more than ten years, how incomplete and bereft of his center and his heart until Robertus had pushed into him, slowly inch by inch, filling him with life and warmth and hope as much as he filled him with his manhood, replacing the cold emptiness with his love and his passion.

Robertus didn't start to move when they were finally one, as close as two beings could only be, he just looked down at Marcus as though he had never really seen him before, his eyes dark and his expression softer than Marcus had ever seen it before.

His long and elegant fingers stroked Marcus' face with rapt devotion, the tips calloused from his life as a Roman soldier but tender and gentle as they followed every line of Marcus' face, caressing the soft hills of his cheeks and his chin, trailing along his jaw and mapping his lips, his nose and his cheekbones.

Marcus was burning with desire, aching with the need and longing of ten terribly long and lonely years, but he lay completely still underneath the only one he had ever loved – could ever love – looking up at Robertus silently.

“You're so beautiful, my golden lion, you're the most beautiful being in this world. Words can't express how much I've missed you, how dark and cold my world has been without you, even under the bright and burning sun of Syria. Without you, there is no light, no warmth, no hope and no joy.”

“And yet it took you so long to come back to me.” There was no reproach in Marcus' quiet voice, only the same longing and wistfulness Robertus had felt during their separation.

“Yes, it did. I know that I can't undo the hurt I've caused, that no apology or explanation can ever justify that I've left you, Marcus, so I won't even try it. But there hasn't been a single day where I didn't think of you in every waking hour, my golden lion. You are always on my mind and in my heart – from the minute on we'd met for the first time, and this will never change until the day I will close my eyes forever.”

Marcus could feel Robertus' painful desire for him throbbing hard and needy deep inside his secret core, but the older Roman still didn't move, just bent down to kiss him again, their bodies pressed close together. Marcus opened his lips for him letting him in happily, the pleasure building deep in his belly in softly rolling waves that spread out until he could feel it in his toes, his fingertips and even right under his hair.

Robertus' tongue was a tender conqueror, asking and teasing and inviting Marcus to a tender battle, and the younger one lost himself in their kiss, their slow and gentle lovemaking as Robertus finally started to move his hips, pushing into him and pulling out in a steady and tender rhythm taking him away to a land where nothing else existed except for their love and desire for each other.

It had never been like this, so soft and tender and slow, never before this night, the coldest, longest and darkest night of the year. But in their hearts there were warmth and light, and Marcus pulled Robertus down until he could feel his solid weight everywhere upon his own body, carding his fingers through the thick and fragrant dark hair with the thin gray strands that hadn't been there when the ten years younger Robertus had walked out of his life, choosing his love for Rome over his love for Marcus.

“Say it, my beautiful panther, speak out loud what you couldn't say when you left me!” Marcus whispered against Robertus' warm lips, and the former consul pressed their cheeks against each other and closed his eyes for a moment before pulling back to look Marcus in the eyes again.

“I love you, Marcus. I have always loved you, right from first sight on. I could never say these words to you, no matter how much I'd wished that I could do it. My love for you scared me and so I ran away from you, but I should have known that my love for you would follow me wherever I went. I can't turn back the time, but I can promise you that I will tell you how much I love you every single day from now on, my golden lion, and I will do that for the rest of my life to make up for the many, many days I didn't tell you how much I love you.”

Marcus' eyes sparkled golden in the darkness when he smiled at his panther. “I love you too, Robertus, more than anything, more than life itself. I won't let you go again, you'll be stuck with me until death will tear us apart and even longer.”

“I will never want to leave you again, my golden lion.” Robertus sealed their promise with another kiss, and they moved together in perfect unison, slow and tender, drawing it out and savoring their lovemaking to the fullest, soft gasps and moans filling the quiet room with their music, a melody of passion and love and desire that was so different from the times when they had hissed like angry cats, their passionate encounters speaking of anger and hurt and fights and not of love and tenderness.

“I love you, Marcus,” Robertus whispered when the tension became too much to bear and their desire for each other culminated in the longest and most intensive ecstasy Marcus had ever experienced, filling his golden lion with his passion and love, and Marcus searched for his lips again as he spilled his overwhelming pleasure between their bodies, arching his back and pressing his shivering frame against Robertus. “I love you, Robertus!” Marcus' words were an echo of Robertus' hoarse confession, his voice filled with wonder about the true miracle that had brought them together again, reunited them in the night of the winter solstice – exactly ten years after Robertus had left him in the longest and darkest night of the year.

The winter ten years ago had been the hardest winter since Marcus lived in Germania, the freezing cold making the toughest and hardest Roman legionaries cry for their beloved Rome. There had been more than only one deserting from the Roman legions, some of them had come back, but Marcus had lost several good men to the snow, the cold and the winter.

Each loss had hurt Marcus, and he had longed so desperately for Robertus' comforting presence that he had thought that he would go crazy. Somehow, he had survived his heartbreak and kept his sanity, but he had felt as if he had lost the most important part of himself when Robertus had saddled his faithful Arab and ridden out of his life.

Now he was finally whole again, the deep gap in his heart closing when Robertus had taken him in his arms for the first time after ten long and lonely years.

“Don't ever leave me again, my beautiful panther,” Marcus murmured against his lips when the painfully hot waves of pleasure and ecstasy subsided to the warm and soft ones of the afterglow, and Robertus looked down at him and stroked his face with tender fingers, his deep blue eyes shining with the love he felt for his golden lion.

“Never again, Marcus, I will never leave you again. You and me together forever, my golden lion, and we will never part again. We will live here together with our friends, here in Germania, our true home.”

“Sounds like a good plan to me, former Consul Robertus Levantus. What about making up for our terribly long separation by showing me that you're still the proud stud you have been ten years ago?”

“I think I can do that, former Legatus Marcus Retus,” Robertus purred, starting right away with proving to his long missed mate that his desire for him hadn't faded but become even stronger over the past ten years, their love and passion for each other warming them from the inside and lightning up the dark night of the winter solstice until there was no darkness and cold left, only warmth, light, hope and love, a love that would last forever and a day.


End file.
